1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is concerned with the field of automatic medicament dispensing machines. In particular, the invention is concerned with a vial gripper mechanism for use in such a machine including a rotatable first jaw and a second jaw coupled with the output shaft of a jaw motor.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the prior art, U.S. Pat. No. 5,337,919 discloses an automatic medicament dispensing machine having a plurality of medicament dispensing cells arranged in rows and vertical columns. A manipulator mechanism translates across the face of the cells for positioning a vial adjacent a selected cell for receipt of medicament therefrom. The mechanism includes a rotatable gripper finger coupled with a stationary gripper finger for holding a vial therebetween.
The gripper assembly of the '919 patent does not include the ability to determine whether a vial is present. If a vial is dislodged from the gripper fingers, the machine continues to operate as if a vial were present thereby presenting a malfunction in machine operation. Moreover, vials in different sizes are often needed and the gripper assembly of the '919 patent does not have the ability to determine the size of a vial being gripped between the fingers thereby limiting the utility of this assembly.